The Miami Marlins are affected by the WBC

Sandy Alcantara
Sandy Alcantara | Patrick McDermott/GettyImages

The Miami Marlins have multiple players representing their team and their countries in the World Baseball Classic. It's an exciting competition, though it lacks the worldwide appeal of the World Cup. The Fish specifically have ace Sandy Alcantara and another starting pitcher Johnny Cueto among others. They want to proudly represent the Dominican Republic and that's admirable and exciting for the fans. The downside is that they have to put more innings on their arms. That is something that makes me very concerned, as I explain in this article.

The Miami Marlins are negatively affected by the WBC.

The Miami Marlins are considering a plan to protect starting pitcher's arms. Of cours ehaving a 6-man rotation may be helpful, but pitchers run high risks of injuries and there are inning limits and pitch counts for a reason. It makes me very concerned that someone such as Sandy Alcantara or Johnny Cueto can get injured and that miss time during the season. Sandy in particular pitches a lot, so every extra inning makes me very worried.

What is the solution then? I think that the World Baseball Classic is already taking cues from the FIFA World Cup by not being an annual event. More can be done however. How about when it takes place during the Major League season? I wonder if the beginning of the season is really the most optimal time for it to take place. Wouldn't it be better after the season? That's how the World Cup is played (with the 2022 installment in Qatar being a notable exception).

Why not move the WBC to the end of the season? It's not a problem for players participating in the FIFA World Cup, so why would it be a problem here? The result would be players not being tired to start the season and not risking injury before the season even started. You could argue that they will be more tired after the season, but unless WBC starts for starting pitchers are completely replacing their Spring Training starts, the end of the season WBC is the best solution.

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